Essay on The Role of Special Interest Groups in American Politics

The interest groups often lobby members of the congress for favorable policy. The members of congress often listen as well because they are depended on the interest groups for political advertising and campaigning during the

Dating back many decades, it appears that lobbying and politics have always gone hand and hand on any political stage. Lobbying has always had a strong presence in the legislation system. Lobbying is the process of offering campaign contributions, bribes, or information to policymakers for the purpose of achieving favorable policy outcomes. Conventional wisdom suggests that lobbying is the preferred mean for exerting political influence in rich countries and corruption in poor countries. The legislation is meant to benefit society and ensure that citizens are having their voices heard, instead of hindering them in favour of the multi-national corporations. Lobbying has a negative influence on legislations in both developed and developing

American Politics Today defined Interest groups as “organizations of people who share common political interests and aim to influence public policy by electioneering and lobbying. Lobbying involves convincing an elected official or bureaucrat to help enact a law, craft a regulation, or do something else that a group wants”. Thus, America being a nation that welcomes new ideas and ways of doing things, will probably surfer set-backs if it place limits on one of the most used gateways (interest groups ) of its citizens to the Government. For example, if tomorrow the federal government decides that for national security reasons all phone and internet communications must be recorded. Imagine the impact this will have on U.S Tech companies; people will drastically reduce the rate they use phones and internet; stocks of companies like Google, Apple, Facebook, Microsoft etc. Will go down. And at the end of the day these Tech firms are denial the possibility of reaching the government through limitations on interest group.

Pressure group strategy and influence are “determined largely by factors such as size…financial resources, prestige position of the organization, quality of leadership and staff, and relations with the political parties…” (Turner, 1958, p. 64). It is these factors that make pressure groups, to some extent, incompatible with representative democracy as some groups are able to make their views heard ‘louder’ due to factors which can be difficult for them to change, such as the prestigious position of an interest group.

Many communities exist in our world. Some of them are large and others are small. Each group has its own circle of influence and impact on the world. One community that impacts groups is congressional leaders. These individuals are people just like ever other common person. The only difference is there role in our government which at times make them seen more important or more influential than others. Although this large groups of people carries a large scale of influence their influences and time as congressional leader should be limited.

Pressure groups are organisations of people who believe in the same cause which have strongly held views and wish to influence some aspect of society. They are Groups of people working together usually have more effect than individuals.

For some, pressure groups are a fundamental part of democracy. To others, pressure groups undermine the whole principle of democracy. Democracy is a system of government where decisions are arrived at by majoritarian principles with representatives elected at periodic elections where political equality and political freedom allow the voter an effective choice between competing candidates in a secret ballot. How do pressure groups fit in with this concept?

A pressure group is a group of people with specific aims and interests. Also known as interest groups, lobby groups or protest groups, they try to influence political decision makers such as MPs and councillors to influence local or national policy and/or legislation. They seek to do so, either to protect interests of members (e.g. Trade Unions, NUT) or promote a cause (e.g. Greenpeace or RSPCA). Not all pressure groups are as successful as others, and there are many reasons for this.

Political parties and interest groups differ in three main areas: their purpose, their internal issues, and their methods. Political parties can be defined as organized groups of people that seek to influence public policy by getting candidates elected to office. An interest group can be defined as an organized group that tries to influence the government to adopt certain policies. From the initial definitions, there is one obvious difference between the purposes of political parties and interest groups: political parties want their members in office, and interest groups want policies to be implemented. However, there are many small differences between the two.

Parties are not mentioned in the U.S. Constitution, they are vital to the function of the electoral system in the states. Parties organize opposition by recruiting and nominating candidates, act as opposition powerless, unify electorate, and provide government and people linkage.(Magleby 55)

Interest groups once called Pressure groups, are a group of people that are held together through a common single interest. They come together in order to promote their interest and influence the government. Their interests usually revolve around education, safety, agriculture, and the economy. Groups of such kind are mentioned in the constitution, however, they do tend to be chaotic. Interest groups are not meant to last they are only temporary. Once their main interest is

Pressure group is defined as a non-profit and usually voluntary organization whose member have a common cause for which they seek to influence political or corporate decision makers to achieve a declared objective but not to elected candidates to office. They can also be described as ‘interest groups’, ‘lobby groups’ or ‘protest groups’. The aim of all pressure groups is to influence the people who actually have the power to make decisions. Pressure groups do not look for the power of political office but seek influence the decisions made by those who hold the political power such as cabinet. They are sometimes able to gather sufficient support to force government to amend or even scrap legislation. Pressure group direct

There is an underlying link between the existence of the pressure groups and the very survival of a democratic government. Democracy allows for the continuance of pressure groups, but it is argued that these groups are a factor behind the quality of the decision making process.

     We elect politicians on the basis on the issues by which they stand, and these issues are either held up or weakened by the numerous interest groups that exist today. Interest groups target both major and minor issues, using all of their resources to sponsor or overpower the groups’ concern. Interest groups are composed of a limited range of the body of voters who have a great stake in the issues their group support. They make evident the issues their group supports. Their resources are used in an attempt to make their issue public policy. Interest groups are persistent; they do not give up until they succeed. They lobby congress, take legal action,

A group can become a political interest group. A political interest group can make demands or influence the demands of society on an institution of government